MDA hits out at Church-commissioned study on construction industry

The Malta Development Association has hit out at a Church-commissioned study on the construction industry, listing flaws which the association said could have been rectified if it (MDA) had been consulted.

The MDA was referring to a study published by the Justice and Peace Commission within the Archdiocese of Malta that made eight recommendations to authorities and stakeholders in Malta's construction industry for increased safety and fairness for workers in the sector.

Between 2019 and 2021, 90% of workplace fatalities occurred in the construction sector. The research involved conducting over 40 interviews with workers, supervisors, employers, professionals and organisational representatives in the construction sector. The MDA said the study helps foster an environment where policymakers take decisions based on scientific data rather than hunches. It welcomed the fact that the study endorsed one of the many MDA’s proposals, which has so far been shunned by the government, namely the mandatory insurance policy to be taken out by contractors as a condition for their license.

This is where the MDA’s praise stops, as the association then goes on to list a “number of flaws in the study that we are duty bound to point out, and which unfortunately undermine its effectiveness”.

The study, the MDA said, seems to attribute most problems to pressure by developers, be it private or public, in relation to time constraints. Nevertheless, it does not make the point that these are most of the time caused by contractors who bite more than they can chew, and who do not respect agreed timeframes thus leading to substantial losses for developers.

This was one of the reasons why the MDA has lobbied for years for a licensing system for contractors. There is no mention of the fact that, according to the Labour Force Survey, wages in the construction industry compare well and in some cases are higher than other manual labour industries in the economy. This is not only related to the additional skills required but also to the lack of supply in this area in Malta. Unfortunately, the study references payment rates in Italy without going into the Maltese reality.

The study also fails to mention the fact that in many cases, the migrant workers who contractors fail to register accordingly are those who come to Malta from other EU member states and who would refuse to be registered as they would lose their protection status in the European country where they first landed.

The above point on lack of supply of workers is barely mentioned in the study, even though it is one of the main reasons for the problems identified, namely the daily struggle with deadlines. This is clearly due to not having enough workers engaged in the industry, with social pressure mounting on the government to introduce even more barriers to entry of foreign workers.

The study revolves around interviews of 22 workers and accounts of three major construction site accidents, the MDA said. While the choice of the sample is not explained, it is clear that these do not represent a full picture of an industry that employs thousands of persons. Admittedly, if one runs past the newspapers headlines, the interviews give a relatively balanced view of contractors as employers, with both positive and negative experiences.

The flaw in this, according to the study, is that the attitude is mostly relationship based and that it should become more structural. While this is a legitimate point, the study gives the impression that this is a unique phenomenon in the construction industry rather than the case for most small and medium-sized enterprises across sectors.

The association said that "all the above flaws" could have probably been rectified had those who carried out the study opted to share the conclusions for feedback with the MDA before publication rather than selectively using short extracts of interviews throughout. This would have not reduced the critical angle towards the industry, but rather sharpen it by pointing at the inaccuracies that the study makes by simply repeating without verifying, the MDA concluded.